


Minivan: Curses

by MirandaJ



Series: Batfam Week 2018 [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Batfam Week, Batfamily Feels, Brotherly Bonding, Catmom - Freeform, Don't Judge Me, Fluffy Ending, Gen, I'm pushing I know, Jason Todd Has Issues, not quite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 10:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15628419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirandaJ/pseuds/MirandaJ
Summary: Jason's life is a small piece of hell, it's always been and always will be.And he should've known better than making it worse by joining a road trip.Writen for:Day Four of BatFam Week 2018AU





	Minivan: Curses

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I'm late and I failed, sue me before I sue myself.
> 
> Explanations: I tried to get it all done for last week I swear but that didn't end up well, I was kinda trapped for four days in an endless hackathon and had no time to write, however I didn't want to leave the series without an end and I won't so I'll finish it and post it as I get each story done.
> 
> Onto the story, here is some Jason's point of view for this story's dynamics and I really hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Aaand as always sorry for any plot or writing mistakes and for being so late.

Honestly he wished he wasn't here, to be true he wished to be nowhere, but that wasn't an option, he could only be delusional if he thought destiny could ever be anything but cruel to him, it was curse that's what it was his entire life was a curse and one he'd been condemned to twice, because he wasn't even worthy of death. _'Second Son of Bruce Wayne back from the dead’_ the headline was clear, they didn't even mention his name, how important was that anyway? Hate and anger ran through his veins like poison consuming his blood, sitting at the head of his gargoyle he screamed to the orange rising sun, he threw the newspaper and shot it apart, watching the lettered leaves fall slowly into the city flying here and there before making their way down. He jumped off the rooftop, letting himself fall for longer than it was safe before throwing the grappling hook and swinging away between the buildings, he always did that, maybe one of these days he'd brave enough to not grab the rope and end the curse a second time, this time he'd just get to the safehouse, tomorrow some other maniac would try to take over Gotham, keep him entertained and take his head somewhere away from this media mess.

 

Bruce Wayne was there, not Batman, not Matches Malone, Bruce Wayne in his khaki slacks and black turtleneck sweater standing in the middle of his small combo living room and kitchen when he made his entrance through the back window, not that he didn't expect it but he thought it would at least be a little later. Jason walked over to the other window and stared at the reporters down in the street while Bruce rambled about how he'd spent the whole night trying to contact him, how yesterday had been crazy with the news all over the city, how dangerous it was for him to stay anywhere that was not the Manor. He swore, they fought, bad really bad, Bruce had given the ultimatums but taken the punch to the nose, the shouting, the threats and everything else with stoicism, he stood still like a statue until Jason had finally put out all the anger and there was only tiredness on his mind and body, he waited for the nod and took Jason home.

 

The following weeks were pure torture, the Manor was crowded, he was being ordered around and he hated it, he had had to smile in suits at public events and he hated it, he had to face the Joker and obey the Batman and that he simply couldn't stand it. In his room he prepared himself for dinner, more like sprawled out on the carpet with a book over his face groaning at Alfred's calling, by the third ~~_threat_~~ call he carefully set his book aside and got down to the dining room, he rolled his eyes when their patriarch entered and took his seat just like he had done everyday for the past couple of months but this evening he was different, he looked a lot more anxious and Jason just wished to not know why but after the meal was finished they all did. Seriously what were the odds for them in a road trip? He had to be joking, there was no way he could be serious, it wasn't logical and Bruce was all  about logic, well that was true and he was now a part of it and also a part of plan to end it, a plan that wasn't working, a plan that made him hungry, a plan that got _~~his brother~~_ Tim sick, a plan that made them spend a whole day at a Circus, not that that was the worst part of it but he truly wanted to be back in Gotham where he was at least familiar with the madness, because that was what this trip was, madness and his guts were telling him something was wrong, he felt his stomach turn looking at a woman who was talking to Dick.

 

Back in the minivan the boiling feeling in his stomach didn't stop, _we're going back home, I should just try and get some sleep,_ Jason tried calming himself as they left the city in the dark gloom of the night, the orange lights fading behind them, he stared at Bruce's eyes in the rearview mirror and got a light warm smile in response. For the first time in two days there was silence in the car, everyone awake and silent, Tim played with his tablet, Damian scrolled down the screen of his iPod with headphones on, beside him Dick seemed to be lost in his thoughts and Selina contented herself by looking at view of the window, he had his book laying on his lap but he couldn't get himself focused enough to read it. A few hours into the night Bruce pulled up in a decent gas station with a convenience store attached, the other boys had been fast asleep, he followed Selina and Bruce as they got out of the car, after quickly using the restroom he met them buying food and some toiletries.

 

“-buy some blankets for the boys.” Bruce was saying as Jason got closer.

 

“No need, it's okay, I've got a few in my suitcase.” Selina answered.

 

“Let’s pay and go then, I don't want leave them alone for too long.” He said to both of them acknowledging Jason's presence and they nodded.

 

They walked back to the van and quietly opened the trunk for Selina to get the blankets, that turned out to be what was actually filling her cases, his mind chuckled lightly, they got to the doors and Bruce made a move to pick the fleeces but she shook her head.

 

“I'll take care of it don't worry.” She slided the door but turned to Jason before getting in “you want to switch places with me?” He widened his eyes quizzically but nodded anyway.

 

Jason and Bruce watched as she threw the cat printed covers over each of them, removing the phones from Damian's head and retrieving both the iPod and Tim's tablet and sitting beside Dick in the backseat at the end of the process, Bruce closed the door and went to the driver's side, Jason joined him taking the passenger’s seat. It didn't take long until the two of them were the only ones awake, the car lights illuminating the lonely road, he nervously tapped his fingers on the side of his seat.

 

“Everything okay?” Bruce asked after a while.

 

“Uh-” Jason hesitated “it's nothing, just a bad feeling.” He quickly fell silent again but couldn't hold it for too long. “Bruce,” he called.

 

“Hmm?” The man inquired not taking his eyes off of the road.

 

“Did you really think it would work? I mean this.” He gestured vaguely at the air around him.

 

“It is working.” Bruce answered with certainty. “We are getting to spend some time together, no heroing, nobody's hurt, you guys still haven't killed each other, Gotham is safe according to the girls and I'm in the company of the most important people in the world to me.” His words coming out so simple and full of normality as if this family thing was something so familiar and wrongly comfortable to him.

 

“Imma tell that to Alfie.” Jason joked not knowing what else to say.

 

“You know we couldn't bring him, he needs some time off too and if he had come he would just end up taking care of us.” Bruce clarified the obvious.

 

“Yeah, guess you’re right ol’man.” He leaned back in his seat and gazed the road.

 

The highway started fading in his vision, he blinked rapidly to realize that actually a fog started covering their path, _strange, there shouldn't be fogs at this time of year_ he told himself, in no time the fog grew blurring everything surrounding them, Bruce turned the lights brighter, Jason glanced at him who looked equally wary and uncomfortable. They braced for some crazy event to happen, stiffened and ready for any type of fight, any type of natural disaster, nothing happened, no sound but the car engine, no lights but the car ones, no living forms but themselves, just the fog. It took a while until they were through the worst of it, it was almost dawn when it started fading and they could get a clear view of pavement drawing the long path in front of them as the daylight touched the grounds he felt it was different, the materials didn't look the same, the plants looked strange, he could feel in the way Bruce gripped the steering wheel he felt it too. Dick had awaken behind Tim stretching himself to a point one wouldn't call possible, the others were slowly waking up as well acknowledging the changes in their states now wrapped in blankets and joined by Selina, no one said anything about it.

 

“I gotta pee, when are we stopping?” Dick asked between a yawn.

 

“Please tell me you can wait half an hour.” Bruce put a hand over his face holding a sigh, they all laughed sleepily.

 

Twenty minutes later they crossed a river and got into a small town and pulled up at a food place, it was early but the place wasn't empty the warm toned walls and red seats welcomed them with a smell of fresh eggs and bacon filling the air in a cozy homemade sensation, soon a young waitress came greeting them good morning. They were all settled and the waitress was back to take their order when a boy dressed in a Robin costume came running around buzzing with a plane toy in his hand.

 

“And here I was thinking Robin was famous only in Gotham.” Jason teased taking a sip of his drink.

 

“Don't be stupid Todd, Robin is universal.” Damian retorted.

 

“Oh, you like the comics too?” The waitress asked innocently.

 

“Comics?” Tim and Dick stared at each other confused.

 

“Yeah, the Batman Comics by DC, this little one is crazy about all those stories.” She prompted and left.

 

They froze right then, everyone knew what was happening but no one dared to say a word, _what now?_ That was the question in all of their eyes, suddenly they weren't hungry anymore. Tim started tapping viciously on his tablet his expression wasn't promising, heavy breaths escaping his body with small waves of shiver at every half a minute.

 

“It's all fiction.” Tim said in a dark fearsome tone. “ _We_ are all fiction.” He said again.

 

“What do you mean?” Selina finally spoke in question.

 

Tim seemed to reset himself before speaking again. “Apparently our entire world is comic book story created by DC Comics in 1937 and became one of the greatest stories of all times featuring various stories and characters added along the way such as fantasy arcs involving masked superheroes, crazy supervillains, aliens, undiscovered planets and galaxies, super powerful humans, extraordinary beasts, series of different universes-” he pauses to catch a breath he was holding for too long and couldn't get himself to continue. “Gotham doesn't exist, Metropolis doesn't exist, Justice League doesn't exist,  basically we are not real, nothing we know is real, in this place everything is just a story.” Tension fell upon them and it was like they could hear each other's hearts racing as the words died in Tim's mouth.

 

“Let's keep calm,” Bruce spoke steady and patient “first we have to make sure we know where we're stepping on and find the connection to our dimension, how we got here so we'll be able to go back as soon as possible.” He settled his coffee over the table. “Tim try to use the internet to gather as much information as you can about this world, let's finish eating and find a place that have those comic books, they might help us find our way back.” He lowered his voice as the waitress came bringing their breakfast.

 

There was a lot of discussions, a lot of guesses, a lot of talking on what were their possibilities, none of it leaded them anywhere, they knew they were in some village in Oklahoma which seemed about right from where they were in the other dimension, they knew money worked the same, they knew spacial development was about five hundred years behind them even if the date was the same. It didn't take too long for them to realize there was no book stores in the town and the few shopping places had no DC books, they searched every single part of the stores the day flew by as they grew frustrated and helpless. In was late afternoon strong winds blew green leaves off of the trees when they ended up back at the dining, the same waitress greeted them with a weak smile, the food was good, nowhere near Alfred's roast but good nonetheless. Jason fixed his eyes on his half eaten steak refraining from another sigh, _definitely a curse,_ he lifted his head up a gazed at Dick who was sitting in front of him.

 

“Layla!” He exclaimed with a startle. “She did this, of course, and then the fog that's when it happened.” Jason's blue irises danced around as he spoke in his eureka moment.

 

“She couldn't-” Dick narrowed his own blue eyes and shooke his head, “she doesn't have powers, that was lie to take money from the people who went to the circus.” He hardened his face.

 

“Maybe she got the powers from some amulet, she had the strange necklace when you were talking.” Dick seemed to accept Jason's words.

 

“You could be right but we can't know for sure.” Bruce said eyeing them both and stopping at Jason. “Tim can you-”

 

“Already on it.” The boy cut in.

 

“We need to find a place to stay the night.” Selina said after their discussion died down and she finished her dish. “It isn't safe to keep driving if we don't know where exactly we are going.” A thunder stroke synced with her words and Bruce nodded serious in agreement.

 

“This outrageous city has no hotels father, where are we going to stay?” Damian inquired irritated.

 

A strong wind blew some dirty glasses on the table behind them getting their attention, a man who appeared to be owner of the dining came cursing, on the small TV close to the counter a reporter talked, _'-winds that surpass 150 miles per hour, a tornado is expected to be formed between 1:00 and 4:00 am, the authorities declared emergency and recommend the population to stock supplies for the next few days and don't leave their houses until the storm's over-”_. At that point they were the only customers in the place the waitress girl came cleaning the tables, Bruce got up to go talk to the man who ha the same idea and was coming to talk after some moments they both came closer to the table, the girl quickly joined them. Bruce explained that he had rented a house that belonged to the man's brother for the week because of the storm and the man added that they should go to the grocery store before it was too late.

 

The man turned to Bruce lifting his hand “Well it's been nice to meet you-”

 

“Irena,-” Selina cut in taking the man's hand and shaking it, “Irena Malone, my husband here Matches and our kids John, Peter, Jackson and… uh-” she looked at Damian out of options “Thomas, our baby.” She searched Bruce's expression who nodded acknowledging the good move.

 

“I am not a-” Damian started to protest when Dick's hand covered his mouth.

 

“Okay, so Anna can show you the way to the house, I'm heading to the store.” The man prompted.

 

Selina and Bruce decide it was better for them to divide, Tim and Damian went with her and the girl while Damian casually asked questions about the comics until they weren't in sight anymore, he and Dick accompanied Bruce and the man to the store. They were quick to gather everything they’d possibly need during the storm time and some gadgets that could help them build some type of interdimensional communication, there wasn't many things for them to work with but at this point anything was useful. The lines for the cashiers were long and and everyone's cart were overloaded with all kinds of stuff including theirs, Jason stared at the amount of things they were buying and scary thought hit him.

 

“Bruce, how much money do you have?” He questioned pulling Dick and the man to the side of the cart.

 

“Enough.” Was the simple answer.

 

“How much means enough?” Dick asked sensing the tension.

 

“Enough for a month if we don't waste it.” He said to the two, “don't worry, we will just let the storm pass and we'll go back.” They nodded and their turn came at the cashier.

 

The process of loading and unloading the van took longer than the seven minute ride they spent to get to the three bedroom house, the place was simple but comfortable and cozy, all the furniture and decorations declared the airs of what could be considered a home, most of it was underground saving the joint living and dining room and the kitchen. After everything was settled and all the food was stocked, they sat on the couch to talk while watching some violent winds shaking the glass windows, the tornado and storm should pass close to the town but not enough to destroy anything so all they had to do was to wait inside but that wasn't as easy as it looked like. Tim had found out this Earth was _‘a much more boring world’_ according to him, religion ran most of the human population, there weren’t any supernatural events going around, there was as much maybe more misery as theirs but none of the technology and people were warring over petty motivations. Damian had a _‘playdate’_ undercover set up with the robin fanboy to get information on the comics for when the storm was over, apparently his uncle use to bring him the books from Oklahoma City. Two slow days passed around burnt or microwaved food, sharing a room with Tim and the small house with five other people, although everyone was focused on finding ways to get back to their Earth, they could only do so much, it was like they were back in Manor fighting over every little thing, except the Manor had enough space for them to avoid each other for week and they had Alfred, so nothing like the Manor, the third day was about to start and Jason wasn’t looking forward to it, he just needed a warm bath but when he got into the cold water right after Dick he yelled a curse.

 

“Dafuq Dickhead!” He shouted getting out of the bathroom, “You fucking used all the hot water, how the hell am I supposed to shower now?”

 

“You get up late and now it’s my fault?” Dick shouted back.

 

“Right, because nothing is ever your fault Goldie.” Jason raised his voice sarcastically irritated.

 

“I’m not the one trying to pick a fight in the first place.” Dick said noticing Bruce already coming from the stairs.

 

“What’s going on down here?” He inquired already knowing the drill.

 

Before anything was said another shouting round started in the room next to them, Bruce rubbed his temples Damian and Tim got louder about another superfluous reason, he called both of the boys who came out accusing each other for this and that, then Selina stomped her feet down the stairs looking angry and disturbed.

 

“Enough!” She yelled over their bickering even Bruce startled a bit. “I am sick of you four acting like seven years old fighting about every possible stupid little thing there is in the world and if you don’t have the capability to solve your problem on your own I’ll do it, you are all going to stay in your rooms and if I hear a peep out of you birds for the rest of the day you can forget tablets, iPods, phones, TV, anything, damn you can forget food for the rest of our time here.” She didn’t seem to realize she was grounding someone, or better two adults and two of the most disobedient human beings of the whole universe and they all stared at her mixing awkwardness and taunt, Tim was the one to open his mouth in protest but didn’t even get the chance to speak. “Not a peep I said! Go!” she ordered lifting a pointing finger and they still just stared. “NOW!”

 

The rest of the day was quiet Jason and Dick kept snorting at each other every now and then, throwing whisper mockeries about momma Malone and wondering how Tim and Damian were handling it on the other side of the wall. If anything the day was apparently productive for Bruce and Selina who had traced a plan for them to get to Oklahoma city where an ancient topaze amulet with mysterious events around it would be exhibited in the Oklahoma History Center and get to know more at the comic stores of the city. The storm had died down quite a bit and although it still looked ugly the TV news were positive they’d be able to get out of the house in the next couple of days, they had stayed up late to give their contributions on the plane and Jason finally got his warm shower, he hung his towel and stepped out of the bathroom to get his hair ruffled by Bruce who carried Damian in his arms, the boy woke with the swift stop.

 

“Father,” he lifted his head and sleeply -tted at Jason “your face scratches.”

  
Jason chuckled, _maybe it isn’t that much of a curse._

 

 

**_To be continued..._ **

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading =D  
> And hopefully the next one will be up soon.
> 
> PS: I don't know why I tend to love writing Damian's sleeping form, it's so adorable.


End file.
